Their Little Brother
by fantasyessa
Summary: The five eldest Weasley boys gather around Ron's deathbed, and lament on the brother they should have watched a little more closely. "This shouldn't be him. We... we were all older than him. We were supposed to protect him." AU, Weasley-Bonding, Very Slight Romoine


This'll probably be a great bloody shock, but I don't own the rights to Harry Potter. Yeah, can't quite wrap my head round that either. ;)

No warnings, other than that this will probably be... angsty. And AU, of course.

* * *

><p>"We're losing him," the Healer murmured. His voice was guilt-ridden, but impersonal. The Weasley siblings knew at once this man had gone through countless families like themselves, all waiting, terrified and anxious. And he probably felt pain for every patient he lost, but Ron would end up in that sea of faces that the Healer wouldn't ever <em>really<em> remember. It wouldn't affect him, in the end. Because that's what Healers did; they tried their best to save a life, and if it didn't work, then that person died and there was nothing anybody could do it.

And that made the Weasley siblings really_, really_ angry. Their baby brother, the littlest of the boys in their family, shouldn't be dying. That was wrong. It wasn't supposed to be him… it was never supposed to be him.

None of the brothers had voiced this out loud, but they'd always thought of Ron and Ginny as the babies of the family. It would have, in the end, only hurt and embarrassed Ron. And Ginny would probably never speak to any of them ever again… So they'd kept it to themselves. But they'd whisper about their littlest siblings when they weren't around, especially after Bill and Charlie left and Ron started Hogwarts, and they _made sure_ that the twins and Percy were at least making sure no one got them hurt.

Percy did all he could do, in his own Percy way. The twins had accepted, of course, though some may have been under the impression they had been watching Ron at all. Ginny, maybe… Fact was, they'd always watched Ron. They were under the firm belief that no one had the right to make their baby brother miserable but them.

The eldest boys… they'd tried their best. They tried to shield Ron from what they could, but, somehow, he'd always end up in the worst of it.

As they looked down at the bruised, cut-up, broken form of their little brother… they couldn't help but realize how badly they'd failed.

They thought the Weasley family had managed to make it through the war unscathed. And then they found Ron, just after Harry had killed Voldemort, and he'd been on the brink of death. And then, there… there was the Healer, telling them that Ronnie might not make it through.

"There's a chance he might pull through. A small one. But… it might be best to get in a goodbye… Just in case," the Healer said somberly. Molly and Arthur went in first. They were surprised to see that their mum had not started crying immediately, and it struck them how very strong of a woman she was. She and her husband had been shaking terribly though, and as soon as the door shut, everybody knew that they probably wouldn't be able to hold in the tears anymore.

Harry and Ginny went in together, Hermione following in a sort of trance-like state. They felt a pang deep in their gut. This had been the girl Ron had been in love with… they hoped they knew about their love for each other, before the end. Maybe Ron would at least… if he… if he _died_, he'd at least be at peace.

Finally, the five brothers stood. Their legs felt like rubber as they approached the door. They couldn't help but notice how Harry and Ginny, both crying, had had to drag a hysteric Hermione out of the room. Bill caught her eyes and thought, 'w_e'll let you go in again. One more time, alone.'_ Even though she couldn't hear him, her trembles lessened and her eyes squeezed shut. Breathing deeply, Bill turned and followed his brothers into the hospital room.

"This shouldn't be him," Charlie said blandly. And none of them winced, because they were all thinking the same thing. "It… we were all older than him. We were supposed to protect him." When Charlie's voice wavered, Bill stepped up and wrapped his brother in a hug, trying to reassure him. He probably didn't succeed, as he couldn't even reassure himself.

"We picked on him. All the time," Fred whispered. His voice seemed almost… haunted. George's knees were buckling, and Bill quickly pushed him into a seat before he could collapse.

"We shouldn't have let him," Percy finally whispered.

"Shouldn't have let him _what_ Percy?" George growled. Percy winced, clearly pained.

"We shouldn't have let him… let him _do this. _We _should_ have watched him more closely. Maybe he wouldn't have gone after that bloody Stone, and nearly gotten a concussion! Or," Percy's voice raised a volume, anger falling off of him in waves and waves, "maybe, just _maybe_, we _should_ have made sure he was by our side every bloody moment of the day! We _shouldn't_ have let him go in that Chamber! He could have died, or have been Obliviated by Lockhart! We _should_ have _forced_ him to stay ten feet away from Harry Potter's plans at all times," he roared. There was a moment, just a second, of silence… And then Percy collapsed by Ron's bedside, seized his hand, and began sobbing into it.

"We couldn't control Ron, Percy. He made his choices, and they were brave ones… stupid, but honorable," Charlie choked. He had never seen Perce like that before and it disturbed him greatly. The twins, usually so stiff with their closest older brother, suddenly deflated. They didn't have it in them, not when Ron might be…

"Percy," Fred whispered, slowing kneeling beside him as George did the same. "Percy, we have to be strong. For him." George lowered his head and braced a hand on his twin's shoulder, too scared to speak. The silence that followed was heavy. Fred and George spoke one after the other. They came in pairs, never separate, and the fact that for once, George was just too grieved to finish for his most beloved brother, was too much for both Charlie and Bill.

The two eldest Weasleys kneeled on the other side of Ron's bed, tears running down their ashen faces as well. "Don't blame Harry," George finally managed to gasp, rubbing his chest very hard, as if he was trying to scrub the pain away. "It's not… he nearly died for all of us. Died _for good_, anyway. And without him, who knows how many of us would actually _be_ dead."

A pregnant pause followed his words as they gazed at their baby brother. "You know," Charlie whispered, "I reckoned he'd be getting into some trouble; ever since early his first year." He closed his eyes painfully.

"Why's that?" Bill murmured.

"He, Harry, and Hermione mailed me a dragon," Charlie said hesitantly. Fred and George blinked several times, Percy's mouth fell open, and Bill rocked back on his heels, clearly baffled. They were all frozen like that, and then Percy chuckled. _He chuckled_.

That was what did them in, really. Soon Fred and George were full-out roaring and Bill had erupted in laughter as well. Even Charlie couldn't hold back his laughter at seeing his brothers so damn amused by his revelation. "How'd they get their hands on a dragon?" George smirked, gazing at Ron in semi-admiration.

"It's something Ron would do, isn't it?" Fred grinned, unshed tears glistening in his eyes. Charlie shook his head, remembering the whole incident rather fondly.

"Hagrid got his hands on an egg, somehow," he said exasperatedly, "and they felt it was their responsibility to make sure the dragon was safe. So they wondered if I could take her in." He shook his head once more. They lapsed into a quietness, still gazing at Ron, until Fred broke it.

"I still remember that Howler. From when Ron drove the car to school… remember?" Fred offered bemusedly. Percy and George's smiles widened… of course they remembered.

"The flying car, right? Dad and his Muggle contraptions," Bill beamed.

It was odd, sitting around, sharing good memories as their brother battled for his life. But it was comforting. And, somehow, it made them feel better. It's probably what Ron would have wanted, rather than them crying. He wouldn't have liked them fighting, either… Percy was simply thankful he'd made up with the family before all of… _this_ happened. He had been terrified he'd lose one of them before he got a chance to apologize.

It really did put everything in perspective.

"I almost had a heart attack when I found out he was in the bottom of that lake," Percy said mildly. Fred and George grimaced, remembering their racing hearts when it'd been announced just what the challenge was all about. Who else would mean the most to Harry?

"I heard about that… I think, in retrospect, that might be what pushed me to come visit Harry with mum. I sort of wanted to make sure Ron was…" Bill trailed off. He didn't need to say what he was thinking – their thoughts were, for once, the same.

"In the DA, he once Disarmed me. Granted, he'd been aiming for Hermione. Still, I was impressed," George smirked, hand unconsciously smoothing over the hair that covered the gaping hole where his ear should've been.

"And you let me think Dean was the one to do that," Fred sniggered.

Suddenly, there was a gentle knock on the door and the five Weasley brothers turned to the door to see Hermione. She was trembling terribly, but had managed to ebb her crying.

"I'm s-so s-sorry, but I need to… can I say goodbye alone?" she whispered. The red-rimmed eyes and defensive, cross-armed position did them in. Helpless, they turned one last time to their brother. Wordlessly, they each grasped a part of his leg or arm and held on for dear life.

And then, as one, they let go.

* * *

><p>This was something I've wanted to write for a while, so here you go! ^_^<p>

Oh, and to my loyal HP Books readers... an update will come... eventually. lol As soon as I can, promise! *crosses fingers*


End file.
